FAQ's (Faith And Questions)

Thursday, November 10, 2016

There is no doubt that this election was a surprise for our nation and was one of the ugliest and longest campaigns in my memory. Many are reeling from the results and are worried about what will happen under a Trump presidency.

As people of faith, we must do exactly that, keep the faith. We must remember that God loves us and provides for each and every one of us, no matter who our president is. We also must remember to pray for those in leadership roles, if we support them, but even if we don't particularly care for them or their opinions, positions or policies.

"Say that silence is dangerous, and teach them how to speak up when something is wrong."

At GIFT last night, one of the moms approached me after the gathering and asked why we hadn't addressed the election. She then shared that her two girls were full of the news because of protracted discussions that they had had at school (a Spanish immersion school, where a majority of the students come from immigrant families). There is a lot of fear and apprehension in our world as evidenced by the protests last night in a number of cities both on the east and west coasts.

That same mom shared the following article with me that I wanted to pass along. I think that if your sons/daughters are nervous about these election results or feeling unsettled in anyway, there are some good reminders.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Today is a Holy Day of Obligation - it's the Solemnity of All Saints. Today, we celebrate all saints - those who have died and reached heaven, including our relatives and the capital "S" saints - like Francis, Patrick, Mark, Luke, John and Saint Mother Teresa. But, we also celebrate the hope of our own sainthood - as we are all called to be saints. http://www.catholic.org/saints/allsaints/

To celebrate, we'll have Mass today at 7:00 pm at St. Matthias.

We also have a table of the dead (la ofrenda) set up in the back of the Church and invite you to bring photos of your loved ones in remembrance of them. The table will remain in the Church for the entire month of November.

You also should have received an envelope in the mail with spaces for names. If you'd like special people to be remembered during the masses this month, write their names on the envelope and return it to the office (by mail, in the collection or drop it off). You may include a donation, however, it's not necessary.

Also, at Masses this weekend, Nov 5th and 6th, names of all those who have died over the past year will be called and there is an invitation for you to light a candle for them. These candles will be lit at all the Masses during the entire month of November. If you would like a name included, please email Liz liz@stmatthiasparish.org to make sure the name gets listed.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Every once in a while, I receive a question like this one "Where can I find materials for a 2 year old to teach them about Jesus & God?" Today, a parishioner was looking for materials to teach her 2 year old grandson about Jesus and God, so she asked for guidance.

First of all, YES! I have to commend grandparents and parents for recognizing that faith is something that needs to be taught, not just caught. This is a well used expression in Church circles to explain what used to happen in Catholic families. Faith was something that permeated every aspect of family life prior to Vatican II and up through the 1960's or so. Church was the center of a families social life, spiritual life, and generally speaking, people knew what the Church taught and what was expected. Partially because things were very dualistic/black and white. - The merits of this can be debated, but that's a different blog post. In this world, faith was caught precisely because it was everywhere, people regularly talked about their faith and belief in God, Catholic statues and other sacramentals were visibly present in homes. In short, children caught the faith.

Now, as societal changes have occurred, people find community in other settings, we have come to realize that faith formation must be taught, intentionally. If we want our kids to learn the faith, we have to make an effort to teach them.

Starting with bible stories is a great place to begin. Kids' imaginations are captured by the epic stories of the Bible, particularly Noah, Moses, Abraham and Isaac and stories about Jesus' miracles and the Last Supper. Small children can be just as "into" bible heroes as they can superheroes.

I know that sometimes children ask questions that we parents, might not be prepared to answer. If this happens in your family, share the question with Kate and I am will try to give you a solid, theological answer - but also one which is based in real world experience.

Tuesday, April 12, 2016

Thank you for attending our April
GIFT Gatherings: Kingdom of God: Parables of Jesus. If you were not able to
attend the GIFT Gatherings this week, please click
the link here to download the
PowerPoint presentation from the event.

During this session we focused on
reading and analyzing some of the parables of Jesus. We looked at the following
parables:

·Parable of the Mustard Seed: Matt
13:31-32

·Parable of the Yeast: Matt 13:33

·Three Parables - Treasure, Pearls,
Net: Matt 13:44-52

·Parable of the Rich Fool: Luke
12:13-21

·The Parable of the Lost Sheep: Luke
15:1-7

·The Parable of the Lost Coin: Luke
15:8-10

Then focused our discussions on the
following questions:

·Who is Jesus in this parable?

·What does it teach us about the
qualities of God/Jesus?

·What does this parable teach us about
the meaning of the kingdom of God?

·What does it mean to us today?

The discussion was rich and provided
a deeper understanding of these stories which Jesus used to teach his
disciples, and us, about the kingdom of God.

Each year, we host our annual Safety
Faire for the Safe Environment requirement from the Archdiocese of San
Francisco. Preschool through 3rd graders are required to complete
the Talking About Touching curriculum. This was covered at the Safety Faire and
packets were handed out with lessons for parents to do at home. When the
lessons are completed, there is a completion form that you’ll need to send back
to me.

For those with 4-12th
grade children, they need to complete the online safety course appropriate for
their grade level. Those courses can be found at www.shieldthevulnerable.org. Here are the course titles per grade level:

4th grade Safety Smarts for Kids

5th grade Block the Bully

6th grade Be Safe, Stay Safe

7th grade Bullying – Not Cool

8th grade Digital Citizenship

9th grade Teen Safety

10th grade Dating Abuse

11th grade Cyber Safety

12th grade You’re Legal; Now What?

We kicked off a collection, CRS Rice
Bowl for Lent. Find more information about the Rice Bowl project, Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) and the work that they do by visiting http://www.crsricebowl.org/. We will collect your Rice Bowls at the May GIFT sessions.

Upcoming Events:

·MSYM & HSYM – Had to be cancelled this month.
My mother-in-law passed away unexpectedly in So. Cal. And my husband and I are
travelling to Los Angeles for the funeral.

·Our Catholicism DVD series continues on Monday
nights from 7-8:30 pm until May 23rd. This series is a companion
piece to GIFT and designed for adults and older teens. It features prayer, journaling,
a spectacular documentary, reflection and discussion and is being led by Deacon
Rich. All are welcome to join us.

·Sabrina’s
Blog – Do you children ever ask you faith related questions that you are
just not sure how to answer? Or do really cool things related to their faith
that you want to share with the community? If so, follow the blog http://faqsfaithandquestions.blogspot.com

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Lord Jesus Christ,you have taught us to be merciful like the heavenly Father,and have told us that whoever sees you sees Him.Show us your face and we will be saved.Your loving gaze freed Zacchaeus and Matthew from being enslaved by money;the adulteress and Magdalene from seeking happiness only in created things;made Peter weep after his betrayal,and assured Paradise to the repentant thief.Let us hear, as if addressed to each one of us, the words that you spoke to the Samaritan woman:“If you knew the gift of God!”You are the visible face of the invisible Father,of the God who manifests his power above all by forgiveness and mercy:let the Church be your visible face in the world, its Lord risen and glorified.You willed that your ministers would also be clothed in weaknessin order that they may feel compassion for those in ignorance and error:let everyone who approaches them feel sought after, loved, and forgiven by God.Send your Spirit and consecrate every one of us with its anointing,so that the Jubilee of Mercy may be a year of grace from the Lord,and your Church, with renewed enthusiasm, may bring good news to the poor,proclaim liberty to captives and the oppressed,and restore sight to the blind.We ask this through the intercession of Mary, Mother of Mercy,you who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

November GIFT Follow Up Email
Trinity (Professing our Faith: We Believe
in God, We Believe in Jesus Christ, We Believe in the Holy Spirit)

Thank you for attending our November
GIFT Gatherings: Trinity. If you were not able to attend the GIFT Gatherings
this week, please click
the link here to download the
PowerPoint presentation from the event.

At our October GIFT sessions, we
handed out the Kindergarten through 5th grade children’s books. We
had them available again at the November sessions for those who couldn’t make
it in October. There are still a few that have yet to be picked up. If you
would like to pick them up, let me know what would work best for you; 1) pick
them up from me in the Rectory during the week, or 2) pick them up at Mass
either Saturday or Sunday.

We also hosted our annual Safety
Faire for the Safe Environment requirement from the Archdiocese of San
Francisco. Preschool through 3rd graders are required to complete
the Talking About Touching curriculum. This was covered at the Safety Faire and
packets were handed out with lessons for parents to do at home. When the
lessons are completed, there is a completion form that you’ll need to send back
to me.

For those with 4-12th
grade children, they need to complete the online safety course appropriate for
their grade level. Those courses can be found at www.shieldthevulnerable.org. Here
are the course titles per grade level:

4th grade Safety Smarts for Kids

5th grade Block the Bully

6th grade Be Safe, Stay Safe

7th grade Bullying – Not Cool

8th grade Digital Citizenship

9th grade Teen Safety

10th grade Dating Abuse

11th grade Cyber Safety

12th grade You’re Legal; Now What?

Upcoming Events:

·Middle School Youth Ministry (MSYM) (5-8th
Grades) – Nov 11th from 6-8pm.
All Middle School Youth are welcome to attend. Each MSYM meeting begins with
dinner.

·Middle School & High School Youth Ministry (MSYM/HSYM) – Nov 15th from 5-7pm. All High School
youth are invited to join us for dinner at Canyon Inn, then back to St.
Matthias for dessert and a Ping Pong Tournament.

·Confirmation Level I Retreat @ St. Matthias on Nov
14th from 10-4:30 pm

·Confirmation Level II Meeting – Sunday, Nov 22nd
from 3-5pm

·Service Opportunity - Giving Tree Set
up – Nov 28th

·Pope Francis – Encyclical on the
Environment Study Group continues on Mondays from 7-8:30 pm and is repeated on
Tuesdays from 10-11:30 am in the Upper Room of Fr. Lacey Hall.

·Sabrina’s
Blog – Do you children ever ask you faith related questions that you are
just not sure how to answer? Or do really cool things related to their faith
that you want to share with the community? If so, follow the blog http://faqsfaithandquestions.blogspot.com